


A Saiyan Among Gems

by Artdirector123



Category: Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Child, Crossover, Gen, Young
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-08 20:24:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5511905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artdirector123/pseuds/Artdirector123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When two of Freiza's soldiers plot against a young Vegeta, the saiyan prince is shot out of an escape pod and left stranded on Earth. Little does he know there are other extraterrestrials waiting for him. What will they make of him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

In the void of space, one of Freiza’s scouter ships glided almost peacefully along in the vacuum. Despite its serene exterior, the cargo and crew of said ship were far from peaceful in more than one way. “Ugh…” a purple alien grunted as he sat down for the first time all day.  
An insectoid creature sitting across from him glanced up from the reports he was looking through. “Let me guess, Baltho,” he said, “You were on babysitting duty again.”  
The purple alien nodded and growled. He had been on his feet all day dealing with the royal terror himself. “The brat’s more than a handful. I don’t get why Freeza's keeping him around,” he muttered angrily.  
“Probably because there are so few Saiyans left,” the bug-like creature said.  
“Yeah, but he’s not even that powerful. Nappa and Radditz are both stronger than him. It also doesn’t give him the right to parade around like he does,” Baltho argued back, “His planet’s been gone for almost a year but he still acts like he can lord over us! I swear, if I could, I’ll shove him off this ship faster than he can say ‘I’m the prince of the Saiyans’.”  
There was a long pause between the two soldiers before the insectoid spoke up again. “Well why not?” he finally said.  
Baltho raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” he asked.  
“I don’t like the kid anymore than you do,” the bug man explained, “I really don’t think anyone does except Nappa, and he’s too much of a muscle head to figure out what really happened. It’d be really easy to make it look like an accident and no one would care or be wise enough to look into it further.”  
The purple alien grinned as he lowered his voice. “What would you have in mind, Recis?” Baltho whispered. The bug man grinned wickedly.  
…..  
It had been ten months. Ten long months since Vegeta’s planet was destroyed and he had been placed aboard this ship. When it had first happened, no one had any idea what to do with the orphaned prince. At that time, he didn’t care what anyone did with him so long as they would leave him to himself. Unfortunately for him, that meant he was left on this rickety old scouter ship with a rag-tag bunch of low-class imbeciles. The only one even remotely worth his time was Nappa, but he was as much of an idiot as the rest.  
Vegeta would not stand for these conditions much longer. Even if his planet was gone, he was still the Prince of Saiyans. He deserved better than this! And it looked like his luck was starting to turn. Two of the ship’s crew had approached him with news that he and Nappa had been reassigned to another ship. They were to escort him to the control deck to give him the assignment. A proud smile stretched across the seven year old Saiyan’s face as he strutted down the hall, his two escorts a few paces in front of him. He would finally be free of this place.  
He soon noticed, however, that their path to get to the control deck was slightly off. There were several much quicker paths to the control room, and he had voiced this complaint, but he had been ignored. As they walked past the hall lined with escape pods, the two escorts suddenly stopped, causing Vegeta to bump into them.  
He scowled at them as they turned to look down at him. “What do you idiots think you are doing?” he snapped, “We’ve already wasted enough time getting to the control deck! I will not be kept from my assignment any-”  
Before he could say another word, the purple one suddenly grabbed him and pinned his arms behind his back. “What the?! Unhand me this instant!” Vegeta squawked. He thrashed about, and was almost able to shake Baltho, but the soldier did not relent his grip.  
“Recis, now!” Baltho hissed. The bug alien shoved a cloth to the Saiyan’s mouth and nose, forcing him to take a breath. When he did, his eyes began to droop and his mind began to cloud. He tried to fight it, but could not avoid drifting into unconsciousness. The last words he heard before being knocked out were “Good night, and good riddance, brat!”  
When the Saiyan finally stopped squirming and went limp, Recis removed the cloth and Batho shoved him into one of the escape pods. “Knock out all communication abilities and any possible manual overrides and set the coordinates,” Baltho said.  
“Where should we send him?” Recis asked as he typed in a panel.  
“The most isolated, backwater planet you can think of that's a million miles away from here,” he said.  
Recis paused for a moment before a wicked grin crossed his face. “I think I got one…” he said. he plugged in the coordinates and slammed the door shut. Baltho pressed the eject button and they both watched as the pod zoomed off into space.  
…  
Rose walked along the beach, the waves lapping at her feet. The cool night air blew across the sandy shore and the moon shone bright as she made her way back to the temple. As she walked up to the base to the giant statue, she noticed a figure leaning against it. As she got closer, she was able to discern who it was.  
“Garnet? What are you doing out so late?” Rose asked with an amused expression, “I can’t remember the last time you were out on a night like this instead of being cooped up inside the temple.”  
“Although it is nice out, that’s not why I’m here,” she said, “I saw something approaching the earth in the near future, and I fear its arrival could spell something horrible for life on Earth.”  
The amused expression quickly disappeared from Rose’s face. “What did you see?” she asked.  
“I saw some kind of small ship coming to earth. Inside was a powerful warrior,” the stoic gem continued.  
“Only one?” Rose echoed.  
“Yes, but I wouldn’t underestimate it,” Garnet confirmed.  
Rose nodded. “Tell Pearl and Amethyst about this at once. We’ll need to start monitoring what enters the earth’s atmosphere as soon as possible,” she calmly commanded. With a nod from Garnet, she headed back into the temple. Whatever this was, she wasn’t about to let it destroy what she loved so much and worked so hard to protect.


	2. chapter 1

The first thing Vegeta was aware of was a faint beeping noise. Vegeta’s eyes cracked open slowly, his vision fuzzy. ‘Where...Where am I?’ he thought as he tried to focus. He felt cramped and uncomfortable. When he tried to sit up, he ended up banging his already dizzy head against something, causing him to slump back into his seat with a groan. When his vision finally cleared, he was able to see why he was so uncomfortable: he was inside an escape pod.  
His first instinct, although he would never admit it, was to panic. How did he get here? How long had he been under? Where the heck was he flying to? The first question was answered pretty easily as he remember what had happened just before he had been knocked out. this made his panic quickly turn to anger. ‘How dare they! They’ll pay for this!’ he thought. He then went for the controls and began mashing buttons as he tried to turn the ship around. However, no matter what he did, his course did not seem to change. ‘I’ll show them never to mess with the prince of Saiyans!’ he thought as he became more angry, ‘I’ll… I’ll…’   
“GRAAAAAHH!” he screamed into the void as he slammed his hand o the control panel, leaving a dent. He panted slightly as he calmed down from his brief fit of rage. As he did, he slowly began to curl up as fear took hold. He was alone. Utterly alone. No one was coming for him, and he couldn’t turn this pod around. It didn’t even matter if he could or not, because he had no idea where he could possibly be. He tried to shake the feeling of dread from himself. He was a Saiyan warrior! Saiyan warriors didn’t get scared! As he attempted to control himself, he noticed that the beeping had gotten louder. Looking up he noticed that he had entered the atmosphere of a planet and was hurdling to the ground.   
The ship shook violently as it rocketed to the Earth below. The pod drove itself into the ground amidst a quarry of boulders. The impact caused the young saiyan to be flung back into his seat, giving him whiplash. As the dust settled, the pod attempted to open, but the door was blocked by the rubble.  
….  
Across the wasteland stood a circular crystalline surface. It suddenly lit up, creating a pillar of blue light. As it faded, four figures stood on the surface. “This is where it landed, Garnet?” Rose asked.   
“It’s somewhere around here,” Garnet confirmed, “but exactly where, I don’t know.”  
“Then we’ll split up and look for it,” Rose said, “Pearl go with Garnet and search the quarry. Amethyst and I’ll check the scrublands.” Although Pearl hesitated slightly, the two gems nodded and headed off toward the mountain range.   
….  
Vegeta pushed as hard as he could against the door of the pod, but it would not budge. ‘Dammit, where’s Nappa when you need him?’ he thought as he continued. When he finally gave up, he sat back in the chair to regain his breath. After a few minutes, an Idea came to mind. He stretched his arms out before him as he summoned a ki blast. This was either going to be really stupid or really brilliant with no in between. At least if he failed, he wouldn’t live long enough to regret his actions. Once it had charged up, he fired it, blowing out the door and destroying the boulders covering it in a bright burst of light.   
As he climbed out of the pod, he took note of his surroundings. It was a bright sunny day, at least for a planet only orbiting one star. As far as he could see, this land was fairly vacant. There was not a single creature in sight, only rocks...or so he thought. In the distance he could see two figures approaching him. He quickly got into a fighting stance but relaxed once he recognized their species. They were gems.  
A grin graced the young prince’s lips. Looks like he was saved! Gems had a long standing relationship with both the Saiyans and Freiza. Especially recently, the Gems had employed both the Saiyans and others under Freiza’s power to clear planets of life before they would use them to harvest more of their kind. If these two were stationed here, then there were probably many more of them on this planet. They could get into contact with one of Lord Freiza’s scouters and get revenge on those two idiots who did this to him.  
“Hey! Over here!” he called waving at them. He immediately regretted this decision, as a pale blue spear went flying through the air right towards him. He was easily able to dodge but that didn't mean he wasn’t thrown off guard by that attack. What the heck was going on?!  
“Stand down, Saiyan! This planet is not for your kind to take!” the owner of the spear called.  
He didn’t know what the gem meant by that, but he wasn’t about to back down from a challenge. He fired another ki blast, sending the shorter one flying backwards. The other one continued to charge at him, heavy gauntlets covering its fists.  
He prepared another bast and fired at his opponent, but the gem deflected the blast of energy with its gauntlets without even flinching. Vegeta’s eyes widened. How was that even possible?! He didn’t have time to figure that out however, as the Gem began her own attack byy swinging her armored fists at him. He managed to dodge just by the skin of his nose. ‘Uh oh…’ he thought to himself as he prepared to dodge the next blow.


	3. Chapter 2

A small purple dog sniffed around the scrubland, wagging its tail as it went along. Its nose was practically glued to the ground. It wasn’t until it bumped into something that it looked up. There, standing before it was a giant of a woman with pink hair. “Did you catch whiff of anything?” she asked.  
“No,” the dog said with a sigh before being engulfed in a bright light. When it dissipated, a short purple girl was in its place. “It would be so much easier if we knew what we were looking for,” she commented.  
“I wish we did too, Amethyst,” she said, “But we don't, and unless Garnet and Pearl give us a sign of whether or not they found anything, we’ll just have to keep looking.”  
Just as they turned back to continue looking for the ship that crashed, a loud boom filled the air. The two quartzes turned to see a blast of light stretch across the sky.  
“Think that might be the sign?” Amethyst asked, eyes still wide.  
“If not from them then from whatever it is we’re facing,” Rose said, a similar expression on her face.  
….  
Vegeta could barely get a move in. He had never faced a fighter this powerful. Each hit seemed faster than the last as the small Saiyan tried to dodge. he had to think quickly. Even if he managed to keep this up, it was only a matter of time until the thin shorter one joined in on the fight. He only had one shot but he had to take it. A ball of ki energy formed in his hand and hhe fired it directly at the gem’s stomach. At the same time, her fist connected with his face, sending them both flying backwards.  
Little Vegeta rolled across the ground. His uniform was now covered in cuts. He groaned as he got up. When he looked up he was surprised to find the gem was barely scathed by the attack. Aside from a little dust, there was barely a scratch on her. As she jumped to her feet, she began to charge at him again. Vegeta was suddenly very scared, and at that moment, he did something he knew he would forever be ashamed of: he ran. He ran as fast as he could away from her, but no matter how fast he ran, she was still on his tail...metaphorically speaking.  
As the taller gem was gaining on him, he noticed the pale gem was back on her feet and now was blocking his path. With a growl he sent another ki blast her way. This time however, she was prepared for it. With a twirl of her spear she dispersed the beam of light, causing Vegeta to wear a look of shock.  
Vegeta was almost out of options. There was only one thing left he could do: he jumped up intoo the air as high as he could. He cleared the pale gem and spear. A smirk crossed his face. They wouldn’t be able to get him now! He had left both of them in the dust!  
Then he felt a tug at his ankle. Before he could even look down, he was dragged back down to earth and slammed into the ground. He looked up to see purple dwarf standing before him, holding the whip that had snagged itself around his leg. “Hey,” she said cooly.  
Vegeta growled and fired a ki blast at her, sending her flying back. He then began to sprint away, only to be stopped by the pale gem leaping in front of him and pointing her spear at his chest. He turned on his heels only to find the tall one with square shaped hair standing in front of him. He dodged a blow before ducking through her legs. He landed a punch square in the small of her back before skidding off.  
He didn’t make it far however, as suddenly felt something tighten around him, causing him to trip and fall onto his stomach. When he felt something being pushed down firmly on his back he looked up to see the purple gem standing above him and keeping him tied down with another whip.  
The other two walked up to him and glared down at him. Both of them had their weapons at the ready, and Vegeta closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow...but it never came. He looked up to see them still at the ready. No one moved. Vegeta couldn’t take much more of the silence. “Well?” he asked, trying to sound braver than he felt at the moment, “What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to kill me?”  
“Actually, we’re waiting for her,” the tall one finally spoke. She then turned outward to reveal probably the tallest women Vegeta had ever met. She was easily three times his size. She had long, curly pink hair. Her eyes were calm yet steely, but when they looked upon the young Saiyan, they suddenly softened.  
“You’re just a child…” she said softly, a look of pity in her eyes. Vegeta hated it. How dare she look upon him like some kind of feeble little creature! Granted, he had just had the snot beaten out of him by her soldiers…  
“Don’t be fooled, Rose,” the tall gem stated, her voice as stoic as it was befor, “Saiyan children can be just as powerful as adults.”  
“Rose” as the other gem had called her, nodded in acknowledgement but knelt down before him anyways. “Are you alright?” she asked.  
Vegeta looked at her in confusion. “Why do you care? Your soldiers were the ones who attacked me,” he questioned.  
“We thought you were trying to attack this planet,” she explained, “But the ship you came in looks more like an escape pod rather than a vessel for invasion. Though that does beg the question why did you come to this planet?”  
“I don’t have to tell you anything! It’s none of your buisness why I’m here!” he snapped at her. He didn’t want to tell her anything, although it might get him out of this situation scot free. He was not about to swallow his pride and talk about how he had been forcefully ejected from his ship to complete strangers. The purple gem tugged on the whip, causing him to hiss in pain.  
Rose gave a stern look to the smaller gem before looking back at the young man. “Would you be willing to tell me if I had them untie you?” She said. Both the purple one and the pale gem looked surprised by this proposition, but the tall one kept her cool demeanor as she shared a brief look with Rose.  
Vegeta thought for a second. If they did that, he might have a chance to escape. He nodded, and Rose turned towards the purple gem. “But Rose…” the child-like gem whined.  
“Amethyst, please,” she requested.  
“Ugh, fine…” Amethyst grumbled. With that she began untying the seven year old. Soon he was free, but before he could even jump up, the tall, stoic gem had grabbed him firmly by the hand.  
“Hey! Let me go!” he complained.  
“I would, but then you would have run off wouldn’t you?” she responded. Vegeta swore he saw the smallest of smirks on her face. The young Saiyan glared at her and pouted.  
A slight chuckle came from Rose. “Now that you’re free, a proper introduction is in order,” she said stretching out her hand, “I am Rose Quartz, and these are my friends: Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.”  
Vegeta glared at the hand before stretching out to accept it. “I am Vegeta,” he announced, “Prince of the Saiyans.”


	4. chapter 3

The gems exchanged looks of surprise. “I’m sorry...but did you say ‘prince’?” Pearl asked.  
“Yes. My father was King Vegeta, and ruled over the entire planet,” he answered.   
“And how did you end up here?” Rose asked, “It doesn't make sense to send the prince off to some strange planet.”  
Vegeta looked down in embarrassment. “...I was tricked,” he muttered, “Two men from the ship I was traveling on managed to detain me and stuff me inside an escape pod…” He shuffled his feet slightly while he silently berated himself for letting that happen. He should have been able to overpower them easily.  
“Ouch!” Amethyst commented with a grin, “Whacha do to get on their bad sides? Must be worse than me considering Pearl hasn't tried to get rid of me yet.” Vegeta glared at her but didn't respond.  
“Do you know if they’ve sent out a search party yet? Your father must be worried sick,” Rose commented.  
Vegeta looked at her as if she had grown a second head. Was this some kind of cruel joke? Did they really not know what happened? Maybe he could take advantage of this. “I...don’t think he knows yet,” he lied.  
“Is that so,” Garnet questioned. He couldn't see her eyes but he could tell she was eyeing him suspiciously.   
“Excuse me rose,” Pearl said pulling her aside. “I don’t mean to be rude but what now?” she whispered, “We can’t just let him go. Whether he was sent to destroy this planet or not, he’s still dangerous.”  
“I realize that too Pearl, and if he really is who he says he is, we can't hurt him either...not that I would have considered that in the first place,” she responded quietly, “For now we'll take him back to the temple and keep him there until further notice.”  
Although they were trying to be quiet, Vegeta heard every word. “I’m not going anywhere with you!” he cried as he began trying to pull away from the fusion.  
Rose sighed. This was going to be difficult. “Garnet,” Rose commanded.  
With a nod, she tossed the boy in the air. “Gaaah!” he cried as he was flung through the air. He never hit the ground however, because Garnet suddenly caught him in a maroon bubble. He blinked in confusion for a second. Before trying to pound against the sides of the bubble. “What is this?” he demanded, “Release me at once!”   
“We will once we get back to the temple,” Rose responded as she turned to leave. The other gems followed her, Garnet maintaining the bubble as they did so. “I am the prince of the saiyans and as such I demand that you let me go at once!” he continued.  
“Whatever, dude,” Amethyst snorted, “You maybe Prince of Saiyans but you sure as heck ain’t the prince of us!”   
Vegeta shut his mouth at that. His eyes were wide for a few moments as he processed this information. It was true. He really had no power here. For the first time in his life since he was a baby he felt truly helpless. He didn't like this new feeling, and wrapped his tail around himself, remaining quiet for the rest of the journey back to the warp pad.  
….  
With a bright flash of light the gems returned back to the temple, landing back on the warp pad in front of the door. Rose approached the door which bore a star with five gemstones on it. Her gem glowed with a pink light and so did the corresponding stone on the door.   
The door opened to a room filled with pink clouds. As Garnet stepped through the doorway carrying Vegeta’s bubble, he suddenly felt very relaxed. Everything was just so...calm. His eyes drooped slightly as they traversed the cloudy room.  
Rose conjured up another door. This opened to an empty red room. Once they had all entered, the door closed behind them. Garnet popped the bubble that Vegeta had been encased in, and he dropped to the floor with a “Oof!”   
Rose extended a hand to help him up but he rejected it. “this is where you will be staying for the time being,” she said, “Don’t worry. We’ll have it be made a little more roomy for you.”  
Vegeta didn't respond. It didn't matter to him. A prison cell was still a prison cell no matter how fancy it was.  
“Amethyst,” Rose addressed, “Would you mind if we borrowed a few things from your room for him?”  
“What? Why me?” she asked.   
“Because you’re the only one who compulsively collects human things,” Pearl stated.  
“Alright…” Amethyst sighed.   
“Garnet, why don’t you go with her and find some bedding material for him,” Rose suggested. Garnet nodded and the two of them headed out. Rose then turned to towards Vegeta and extended her hand out. “May I see your wounds?” she asked.  
Vegeta hesitated for a moment, looking the large woman up and down. He saw no threat in her eyes, so he carefully extended his scratched up arm towards her.  
She gently took it and carefully looked it over. As she examined him, her gentle smile fell and her eyes filled with sympathy. “Pearl, could you get me a flask of water from the fountain?” she requested.  
A look of concern crossed the thin gems face. “Are you sure you want me to leave you alone with him?” she asked.  
Rose smiled warmly at her. “I’ll be fine. You know all too well I’ve handled worse on my own,” she said. Pearl nodded before heading out the door.  
When she had left, Roses smile faded again. “I’m sorry about this,” she said to the Saiyan boy, “No child should have to bare wounds like this. We'll get you fixed up and then maybe get you something new to wear, how does that sound?”  
Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her. This gem was confusing him more and more. “Why do you care? Infact, why are you doing any of this?” he asked, “You and your comrades obviously know about my people and what they do, yet you’re being so kind to me! I’m your enemy but you don't treat me like it. Why?“  
“Well the answer is pretty simple,” she said, “Because you’re not just some killing machine. You’re a living being and there is beauty in all life. Great or small there is no living thing in this universe that isn’t important or undeserving of a second chance, at least in my perspective.”


	5. Chapter 4

“Hold still!” Pearl huffed, trying to wrap the measuring tape around the young Saiyan’s waist. He squirmed as he tried to stand still. His arms were out stretched as the slim gem was not only attempting to get his measurements, but also Rose was tending to his wounds. His skin tingled as she dabbed it with a washcloth doused in the waters from the healing spring. He was amazed when he first saw it in action, wiping away his cuts and bruises like marks on a dry erase board. Now however, it was just annoying.  
“Alright,” Pearl said as she finished up. She wrote down a few things on a clipboard and tapped her cheek with her pen as she did some calculations.”It looks like you should fit into a boys’ size small,” she announced, “I’m sure we should be able to find something like that in town, if not among the heaps of useless junk in Amethyst’s room.” Vegeta didn't respond but scowled slightly. He didn’t want any new clothes from this planet, especially if they were for humans. He’d rather continue wearing his torn up battle suit than be caught dead in human attire.  
Just then Amethyst and Garnet walked in carrying several heavy items. “Yo, what’d we miss?” the purple gem asked.  
“Nothing much, just figuring out what to get him for new clothes,” Pearl responded.  
“Good idea. He looks like he was tied to a horse and dragged through a briar patch,” Amethyst observed.  
Vegeta glared at her. “Need I remind you that you were one of the ones who made me look like this?” he bit out.  
“Yeah, but I’m making up for it now,” she said dropping the mattress and sheets she had been carrying in the corner, “Bam! There you go! Your own bed! Pretty comfy lookin’, am I right?” Vegeta looked it over. It wasn't as bad as it could be. He supposed it would do for now.  
“We also have something else you might like,” Garnet said cooly. Opposite the bed, she had set up a punching bag.   
“It’s probably not much by your standards, but it should keep your brain from melting from boredom when we’re not around,” Amethyst explained as she leaned against the wall.  
Vegeta approached the sandbag and placed a hand on it. He could probably demolish it in just a few blows, but he understood it was supposed to be a thoughtful gift. He nodded in approval, but didn't say anything.  
“Speaking of which,” Rose said, “Pearl and I have to go find something for you to wear. We’ll be back in about an hour or so. Garnet can you look after him until then?”  
“I’m afraid not,” She said adjusting her shades, “I just sensed another monster springing up in Africa in a few minutes. If I don’t stop it, it’ll trample a nearby village.”  
“Very well then,” Rose said, “Amethyst, do you mind then.”  
The purple gem shrugged. “Sure, why not?” she responded, “Just bring me back some Chaaaps ok?”  
“We’ll see if we can find some for you,” Rose agreed before heading out with Pearl.  
“Keep him out of trouble,” Garnet said with a nod before exiting as well.   
Silence filled the room as the the door closed on the last two occupants. Not a minute past before Amethyst flopped on the makeshift bed. “So what’s up with you?” she asked.  
Vegeta glared at her. “That’s my sleeping area!” he snapped, “Get off.”  
“Technically it’s still mine,” she pointed out, opening one eye lid, “I’m just letting you borrow it.”  
“How kind of you…” he said rolling his eyes. Silence once again filled the room.  
“So…what’s it like in space?” she asked.  
Vegeta turned and raised his eyebrows at her. “What? You’ve never been in space? Not even to come to this planet?” he asked in disbelief.  
“Nope,” she said making a popping noise with the “p”, “I was made here and haven’t left once.”  
“Should have figured….” he muttered. “So how long have you been here?” he asked. He had no idea where it was, but he might have an idea if he knew when this planet was vacated for gem production. It couldn’t have been long ago since the planet still had plenty of life on it. Knowing when she came out of the dirt may give him a good idea of when it was procured, therefore where he was.  
“Hmm…let me think,” she said counting on her fingers, “ Three...Four...Five? Yeah, five. Five thousand years. Maybe a little over that.”   
Vegeta’s eyes widened in shock. “Over five thousand?!” he repeated in disbelief. He knew the gem race had been around a long time, but he didn’t know they had been invading planets all the way back then! That was long before Freiza or any of his ancestors were even alive! This was unbelievable! “Gems have been living on this planet for that long?!” he questioned.  
“Yeah, so?” she said giving him a weird look.  
“How is this planet still alive?!” he questioned in disbelief.  
“What do ya mean, man?” Amethyst asked with a raised eyebrow.  
“Everyone knows what gems do with the planets they control!” he explained, “They suck all the life out of them to make more gems! If this planet has been gem controlled for the past five thousand years, then why is it not a barren wasteland?”  
“Uh...cause it's not gem controlled,” Amethyst stated like it was obvious.  
“Of course it’s gem controlled!” he snapped back, “Why would you be here if it wasn't?  
“Well it was, but now it’s not,” Amethyst explained, “You see there was this rebellion and stuff...Dang, I wish Garnet was here. She tells the story better.” “Here,” she said scooching over and patting the spot next to her, “You’re gonna want to sit down. This is gonna be a long story.” Vegeta sat down on the mattress, staring at her intensely with deep curiosity in his eyes. “You see, gems came to earth about six thousand years ago…” Amethyst began.  
...  
Rose and Pearl wandered along the boardwalk looking through the different shops. They were picking up differs kinds of clothing for the young Saiyan, from t-shirts and shorts to sweaters and long pants. The pants would need to be edited before they could be given to him, but otherwise everything would be a perfect fit for him. They even moved on from clothing and started picking out some toys at one point!  
Rose was enjoying this little adventure into the world of human shopping. Money wasn't exact  
an object to them as they had plenty of gold and treasures collected over the years that could be traded away if they needed more. She also just enjoyed being around humans. They gave her a few odd stares but aside from that they were all very kind. Pearl on the other hand was not enjoying herself.   
“Rose,” she finally piped up as they found themselves in their fifth shop of the day, “Don’t you think this is a bit excessive?”  
“Hmm?” she asked looking up from the rack of pajama pants for sale, “Why would you say that?”  
“Well you’re treating this like we’re adopting a pet, not keeping a prisoner. This isn’t a lost little human child we’re dealing with,” she explained, “This is a full blooded Saiyan! The prince no less! Whether you like to admit it or not, he’s a serious threat and he can’t stay with us forever.” “Whether a search party is sent out or not, we can’t just keep him here for the rest of his life,” she continued, “Sooner or later he’ll try to escape, because he obviously doesn't want to be here.”  
“You don’t know that,” she responded, “He’s only been here an hour or so. He may change his mind. And if a search party does come for him, then I would rather be seen as a gracious host than an abusive jailer. Getting him a few extra things won’t hurt so long as it makes him comfortable. He and everyone else on this planet are safer if he stays here for now, and the best way to make sure he does is to keep him happy.” She then walked over to a shelf of shoes. “Pearl, which of these do you think would be best for outdoor activities?” she asked.  
Pearl’s jaw dropped at that. “You’re going to let him go outside?!” she questioned in disbelief.   
“Of course,” Rose stated, “We can’t just keep him cooped up inside all the time.”  
“But if we let him outside, he’ll surely escape!” Pearl yelled, throwing her hands in the air.  
“Well, if he’s left unsupervised, of course! But we're not going to do that,” she stated. “Besides, he’ll probably try to escape more if we don’t let him out at all,” Rose pointed out.   
“Oh, and what if he goes out during a full moon?” Pearl argued, “You know what happens if Saiyans see the full moon! How are we supposed to handle that?!”  
“We just won’t let him out during the full moon,” Rose stated simply. Pearl sighed in exasperation. Rose hummed slightly. “You need to have a little more faith in me Pearl,” she said, “Everything is going to be fine.”   
Pearl sighed. “I do have faith in you,” Pearl muttered, “But that doesn't mean I always trust your judgement of character.”


	6. Chapter 5

“And that’s how Rose and the others fought off the Homeworld fleets and sent them running,” Amethyst finished. After over an hour of storytelling, she finally finished. The entire time, the young Saiyan had been sitting completely still, enraptured by her story. His tail didn't even twitch and the only time he interrupted her was to ask a question.  
“But where did you fit into all this?” Vegeta asked.  
“Well I wasn’t actually around for it…” Amethyst said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly, “I...uh, emerged from the kindergarten afterwards.”  
“Really? Why?” he asked.  
“...Let's talk about something else, ok?” she dodged, “You managed to put up quite a fight, and you’re like...what? Five?”  
“I’m seven,” he hissed, folding his arms.  
“Yeah whatever,” she said, waving her hand, “Anyways, how did you get that strong in so little time?”  
Vegeta grinned proudly and sat up straight. “Well first of all, being a Saiyan means I am born with power beyond that of most species,” he stated, “Even our infants are born with incredible power, such as transforming into the great ape Oozaru under the full moon!”  
“Wait, you turn into a monkey when the moon is full?” Amethyst snorted, “Does that make you a cross between a werewolf and King Kong or something? That’s awesome! You’re a werekong!”  
“Grr…,” Vegeta’s tail swished back and forth as he became more annoyed. “As I was saying…” He growled, “I also trained under Lord Freiza for much of my life. With his guidance and resources, I was able to become the strongest Saiyan of my age group.”  
“Is Lord Freezer your dad?” the purple gem asked.  
Vegeta sighed. Figures they didn't know who Lord Freiza was. “It’s Lord Freiza and no he’s not my father, he’s-” he started, but was interrupted by the opening of the door to the room. Rose and Pearl walked back in, carrying several shopping bags.  
“There, that should be enough,” Pearl announced, dropping hers on the ground.  
“I hope you two managed to keep yourselves busy,” Rose said setting hers down as well, “Vegeta, why don’t you come take a look at these.”  
The child walked over to the bags with an uninterested look before peering inside one and pulling out what was inside. There were all sorts of different articles made of flimsy earth materials. There was a multitude of colors and styles, from button up shirts and jeans to khaki shorts and T shirts. What was curious was that he found a few boxes in some of the bags. Inside some were boards with colorful pieces and cards and others held cut up pieces that seemed to match together. There were some that he was familiar with like a ball but he had no idea about others, like what appeared to be some sort of disc attached to a string.  
“We got you a few other things to keep yourself from getting bored. A few puzzles, board games, dominos, cards…” Rose explained.  
Although he didn't show it, Vegeta was slightly surprised by this. Healing his wounds and getting him clothes he understood, those were things he needed. But giving him games and toys for the sole purpose of his amusement? That was beyond strange. They had already given him the punching bag to keep him from going stir crazy, so why give him anything else? He was supposed to be their prisoner, right? This generally wasn't what prisoners were supposed to be treated like from his understanding. He didn’t know how to respond, but Rose hadn't taken offence to his silence.  
“We’ll go ahead and let you get dressed for now. I’ll come back later with some food for you and maybe Amethyst or I can help you figure out some of those games if you like,” She continued as the other gems began to leave the room.  
“See ya squirt,” Amethyst called as she exited. Once she had left, the room was empty and he was left alone.  
Vegeta picked up one of the shirts and looked at it. It was so flimsy he could probably rip it in two without any thinking. It made him wonder what the species of the planet it was like if they didn’t wear anything stronger or more reinforced. Probably didn't matter as they had those four gems protecting their planet. If Amethysts stories were anything to go by, then this world might even be safe from the likes of Freiza himself. Though she seemed gentle and kind, Rose Quartz was a force to be reckoned with. She had ended the lives of many a foe that would have otherwise been able to wipe out entire races.  
One would never assume that of her though. With that spiel she gave earlier about everyone getting second chances he never would have believed her capable of such violence had he not heard it from the mouth of one of her closest comrades. In fact...why hadn’t he seen that from her? She certainly didn't give all those other gems she killed a second chance. She knew what had even less of a reason to feel empathy for him considering he wasn’t a member of her race. The more he was around her, the less that gem made sense. With that, he ended his train of thought by finally changing out of his torn up battle suit and into the human clothing.  
…  
A loud knock came from outside the room. “Food’s ready,” a voice rang out from behind the door. Rose opened the door to find Vegeta in a striped shirt and shorts, and furiously trying to detangle a yo-yo.  
“Difficult isn't it?” Rose said with a smile as she walked into the room carrying a plate with a large cooked fish, bread, and a strawberry the size of a man’s head.  
He looked up at her as she sat down beside him with the tray of food.  
“Here, let me get that for you,” she offered, holding the tray of food out in exchange for the toy.  
His pride told him not to accept her help, but his stomach overruled him and he quickly dropped the toy and snatched the tray from her. He then proceeded to scarf down the meal. “Looks like someone was hungry,” Rose noted with amusement. That was an understatement. The truth was he didn't know how long it had been since he last ate. Literally. He had no idea how long he had been knocked out for in that space pod. However long it had been, it made him not even care about what he was eating or what it tasted like.  
When he finished, she handed him back the toy. “You just have to be a little patient with it,” she explained as she handed it back.  
“Hm…” was all he responded with. “I don’t suppose you have anything more to eat, do you?” he asked.  
Rose blinked at him in surprise. “You’re still hungry?” she asked, “I knew Saiyans had large appetites but you just ate something bigger than your head! You’re almost as big of an eater as Amethyst!”  
Vegeta smiled. “You have no idea! Saiyans are unrivaled by any other being their size when it comes to eating. I could probably eat more than anyone else here,” he stated.  
Rose chuckled. “You can go ahead and test that later,” she said, “For now, I’ll get you some more food and then show you how to use that thing.” She pointed at the yo-yo in his hand.  
Vegeta’s smile disappeared as he lashed his tail back and forth. “I don’t need anyone’s help. I can figure it out just fine on my own, thank you very much!” he snapped.  
A knowing smirk came to her face. “Tell you what, I’ll let you do that if you can tell me what it's called,” she offered.  
Vegeta’s opened his mouth to respond but then closed it a few seconds later. He opened it again with less confidence and then slowly closed it while looking away. An embarrassed blush formed on his face. “Alright, you win,” he muttered in defeat. With that Rose smiled and left the room.


	7. Chapter 6

The warp pad illuminated with a bright pale blue light. When the light faded, Garnet was standing on it with a bubble in hand. She tapped the top and it disappeared. Before she could do anything else, a voice called out to her. “Hey Garnet!” She turned to see Amethyst leaning against the the door to the temple. “What's up?” she said.  
“Hi Amethyst,” She responded, “I thought you were looking after Vegeta.”  
“I was,” she said, “but then Rose came back. She's gotten him food and is sorta hanging out with him right now. Last time I checked she trying to show him how to make a house of cards. He only really got interested in it when she bet ten strawberries that he couldn't make a bigger one than her though.”  
“Really?” she said coolly, “It seems she's already becoming attached to him.”  
“Yeah,” Amethyst said folding her arms behind her head, “I guess we shouldn't have expected any different though. This wouldn't be the first time she's gotten all motherly over something she found stranded on the side of the road.”  
“You're living proof of that,” Garnet said with a smirk.  
Amethyst rolled her eyes at her. “Still, that means she ain't going to like it when a search party eventually does come,” Amethyst continued, “I mean it's bound to happen. You don’t just leave the Prince of their race stranded on a planet.”  
“The thing is though, I really don't see that happening,” Garnet said adjusting her shades, “I see many future ahead of us but I don't see a single one where the sayings come to reclaim him.”  
Amethyst raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. “Really? Why’s that?” she asked.  
“I don't know for sure but I think that Vegeta has been lying to us about something,” Garnet explained, “He might be here for some purpose or he really might be lost, but whatever the case is we have to be careful about what he says. I think he's willing to say anything that will keep him from trouble.”  
“Anything except admitting he's wrong,” Amethyst snickered. Garnet smiled at that. The two of them then headed into the temple. As they walked through the hallway a thought came to Amethyst. “Speaking of something he said,” she started, “before Rose showed up, he mentioned something about a Lord Frieza. Any idea who that is?”  
Garnets smile faded again as they continue to walk. “No,” she said, “but whoever they are can't be a good thing for us.”  
….  
Freiza sat in his commander’s chair as the battle ship floated slowly through space. He glared at the many stars as they passed. If Cui didn’t get here soon with the reports, he’d have to bring in another janitor to clean up the ashes. Today had not been a good day. He had found out one of his last few Saiyan warriors had gone missing a few days prior. The former child prince Vegeta had been forcefully ejected from a scouter ship he had been stationed on by two of his men. Men who were now steaming piles of ash inside the the garbage compactor.   
The child was extremely promising and could have possibly become one of the most powerful soldiers in his ranks, able to wipe out entire planets on his own. Unfortunately it didn’t seem like that was going to become a reality any time soon.   
“You better have some good news for me, Cui,” the warlord warned as he heard the footsteps of the squid alien approaching.  
“Well my Lord...yes and no,” he replied, “The good news is, we know which solar system he ended up in. It’s a medium sized yellow star with two asteroid belts and eight to nine planets….we’re still debating whether the last one is large enough to count.”  
“Do I look like I care about the status of a celestial body?” Freiza hissed.  
“No Sire, I apologize,” Cui responded with a bow, “The bad news is the pod appeared to have been hit by a solar wind while entering the system and it's tracking device cut out after that. We have no idea where he is in that solar system or if he’s even still recoverable. For all we know, the pod could have flown into the star or been crushed in the asteroid belt. In fact we did calculations and there’s only a fifteen percent chance that he could have survived...and by that we mean land on a planet and survive said landing. We have no idea whether any of the orbiting planets are capable of sustaining life.”  
Freiza growled and his claws dug into the arms of his chair. “So you’re saying that one of the last remaining Saiyans and the most potentially powerful out of the three...is most likely dead,” her growled through clenched teeth.  
“I deeply apologize, Sir,” Cui carefully spoke, trying to conceal his fear, “If I had any other information else to offer you, I would have, but I’m afraid that’s all I have for now.” He backed away slowly. He saw the the shorter alien raise one clawed hand. In it, an unstable ball of black energy began to crackle to life. “Please Sir!” he begged, voice cracking, “I am not the one to be mad at over this! The technicians are the ones unable to get you the information. I can get a search party ready to go in just a few minutes! I will personally commander it if you wish!”   
Freiza did not respond. The only acknowledgement he gave was a death glare he sent over his shoulder as the ball of dark energy grew. Cui quaked in his boots, frozen in fear as he stared at his fate.  
Just then, a buzzer from the communications console sounded. The black energy dissipated as the warlord pressed a button on the arm of his chair and Cui breathed a sigh of relief. A large hologram appeared of a tall yellow woman with spikey hair in the shape of a fortune cookie. The killer look immediately faded from the purple and white alien’s face. “Ah Yellow Diamond,” he purred, “So glad to see you. How are you?”   
The stoic woman nodded. “As it is to see you,” she responded, “I’m afraid that this is not a courtesy call. I need you to take another planet for me.” “It’s quite a distance away from the nearest colony, so until we can get a homeworld warp down, so sending gems there is more than a hassle,” she explained, “but your fleet is much closer. It’s about seven light years away from your current location. I’ll send you the coordinates immediately.”  
Freiza frowned. “Did you say seven light years? I’m afraid that’s a bit out of reach even for me,” he argued, “I don’t think I’ll be able to get you that planet. Not with your current payment plan anyways. I have plenty of other planets you might like however that have already been cleared.”  
“Freiza, I need that one specifically,” she said narrowing her eyes, “We haven’t found a planet that healthy in thousands of years. If you do this for me, I will give you a special reward.”  
Freiza raised an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind,” he inquired.   
“The first thousand quartzes harvested from that planet are yours if you get it for me,” she said with a smirk.  
Freiza’s eyes grew wide. Quartzes for soldiers?! This was like a dream come true! The gem empire rarely loaned out any kind of warriors, but now she was practically handing him an army of exceedingly loyal, practically indestructible quartzes on a silver platter! No need for sleep, no need for food...they were the perfect soldiers. “Deal!” he quipped, a greedy smile forming on his face.  
The smirk grew on the yellow gem’s face. “Good,” she said cooly, “Goodbye, Frieza. It’s been a pleasure doing buisness with you.” With that, the hologram flickered out.  
Freiza immediately jumped out of his seat, facing Cui. “You,” he commanded, “Call Zarbon. Have him assemble an attack fleet at once. I want that planet cleared as soon as possible!”  
Cui’s hand sprung into a salute. “Sir, yes sir!” he yelped. As Freiza began to walk away, a thought came to the squid alien’s mind. “Uh, Sir?” he asked, “I was just wondering, do you still want a search party sent out to look for Prince Vegeta?”  
Freiza waved his hand dismissively. “No, the boy isn't of importance at the moment. We need as many men as possible for this mission,” he said, “Just send out a few drones to scan for him. We don’t need to waste energy looking for a corpse.” With that he walked out of the room leaving Cui to follow out those orders.


	8. Chapter 7

Vegeta’s eyes slowly opened and the first thing he felt was confusion. There was no loud buzzer in his ears to wake him up. Also, since when was his room red? He shot up in his bed and looked around wildly. This was most definitely not one of Freiza’s spacecrafts. Then he remembered the previous day. His shoulders relaxed slightly. At least he knew where he was now. It didn't make his situation any less annoying. Rose had attempted to keep him entertained with human games and such the night before, and while entertaining they may not have been, he had to admit she managed to figure out several ways to convince him to participate. Despite the annoyance of being tricked, he couldn't help but respect her a little bit for that. It was better than forcing him to participate anyways.  
As he sat up and stretched he felt another presence in the room. He looked around, but couldn't see anyone. There was also a strange scent in the room, but he couldn't recognize it. Whatever it was made him suddenly aware of how hungry he was. “ADVANCE!” he heard a voice shout and before he could react, a body roughly his size fell on him from above, causing him to fall flat onto the bed. The person then laughed as he squirmed underneath them.  
“GET OFF!” he cried. He managed to roll them off sightly, enough to allow for a larger range of movement. Before he could even tell who had attacked him, he grabbed one of their limbs and pulled them off of himself. He then flung said person into the opposite wall.  
Amethyst’s back hit the wall. She peeled off the wall and fell onto her stomach with a loud “Oof.”  
“Nice toss, kid!” she congratulated nonchalantly as she picked herself up and dusted herself off.  
Vegeta was not nearly so laid back. Currently he had taken a fighting stance on his bed, his tail sticking straight out and fluffed up out of surprise and anger. “What the hell was that for?!” he snapped.  
Amethyst shrugged. “Just felt like surprising you,” she said, “I was hoping you’d be asleep but that didn't work out.”  
“I hate you, you know that?” he said as his shoulders and tail relaxed.  
“Not for much longer!” she chimed as she walked over to him, “‘Cause I got a really awesome surprise for you!” As she got closer, he tensed up again. “Oh, relax kid,” she said rolling her eyes, “I’m not gonna attack you! I just wanted to freak you out a bit earlier.” She then walked over to a large square object covered in a sheet that he hadn't noticed before. “‘Sides,” she said grabbing the sheet, “You’re gonna really like this surprise!” She pulled back the sheet to reveal a giant stack of pizza’s. “Tada! Twenty pizzas for breakfast!...to share that is,” she proclaimed. She opened a box for him to see, and the smell from before suddenly got much stronger. His stomach growled and his eyes grew wide as he gazed upon the circular food. He had no idea what they would taste like but that smell was absolutely wonderful.  
“Knew it!” she bragged with a smirk as she shut the cardboard box again, “Not even a space alien can resist pizza.”  
“Aren’t you technically an alien too?” he noted.  
“Uh, Yeah! That’s how I knew!” she stated as if it were obvious. She then picked up nine more boxes and set them and the one she was holding on his bed. “So half for you, and half for me,” she said sitting down and picking up a box for herself, “...That is unless you don’t finish before me. Then I might steal a slice or five from you.” She then picked up a large slice and stuck the whole thing in her mouth. Vegeta picked up a slice of his own like her and awkwardly tried to take a bite from it, not sure how to deal with the melting strands of cheese that didn't seem to want to let go. “So I bet you’re wondering,” she said through mouthfuls of pizza, “why I’m here.”  
“Because you take pleasure in antagonizing me?” Vegeta guess, a look of annoyance on his face.  
“Well, that and Rose told me to look after you for the day,” she said wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, “and I’ve never had the chance to be the babysitter before, so I decided I’m gonna have some fun with this!”  
“I am not an infant!” he protested and threw his piece of crust at her.  
“Calm down, Princess,” she snorted as she picked it out of her hair before tossing it aside, “It’s just an Earth term for a caretaker.” “Anyways, I was thinking because this room is pretty lame that after breakfast, we could go hang out in my room,” she said before stuffing her face again.  
Vegeta’s eyebrows flew to his hairline. “Rose would let you do that?” he asked in disbelief as he grabbed another slice.  
Amethyst shrugged. “She never said I couldn't,” she said casually. Vegeta was baffled by this. How could she just defy her leader so easily?! True it wasn't direct defiance, but shouldn’t she have known that you don’t remove a prisoner from their cell without asking a higher authority?  
“Ah, calm down,” she continued, “You’re not gonna get in trouble. Just finish your breakfast so we can head over.” It was then that he noticed she was on her second to last box while he was still on his first.  
…  
When she had said they would be hanging out in her room, he had expected another room like his own, maybe a little bigger…this was not the case at all. The room was more like a cavern...in fact it was a cavern. Stalactites and stalagmites made of crystal were everywhere. The rooms seemed to extend forever. Heaps made of garbage and random human objects reached to the ceiling.  
“Make yourself at home. Mi casa es su casa,” she said reclining on a pile of garbage, “Go ahead and check out whatever you like. Just be careful not to step in any puddles. You might just drop into a lava pit if you do.” Vegeta couldn't tell if that was a genuine warning or a threat, but nodded anyways. Amethyst relaxed against the random junk, her eyes completely closed.  
Vegeta looked around for a while. He pulled out and inspected a few of the objects, occasionally asking her questions about them until he got bored. Then he began to explore the cavern. The room seemed to go on forever. He couldn't even figure out where door he came through was.  
He climbed up one of the piles to observe his surroundings. In the distance he could see a passageway out of the room. Upon spotting it, an idea quickly came to mind. He looked down to make sure Amethyst wasn't watching him and he saw that her eyes were still closed. A smirk grew on his face as he slowly and quietly climbed down the other side of the garbage pile. With a momentary pause to look around, he began to make a break for the exit.  
He ran through the maze of mountains of junk, glancing over his shoulder every so often to make sure he wasn't being followed. Although he was not sure where it was in this strange complex, if he could just find the pink cloudy room that he had originally enter the temple through, he could get out of this place. Although they seemed kind enough for now, he did not plan on staying with these gems as their prisoner or whatever they considered him for the rest of his natural life. As he turned his head back around from glancing over his shoulder, his eyes widened and he came to a screeching halt. There in front of him, casually leaning against a pile of junk, was Amethyst.  
“Hey,” she said cooly, “Whacha doing?” Despite her relaxed posture, there was definitely something threatening about her presence. Vegeta gaped in surprise. Once he regained his composure, he quickly weighed his two options. He could fight her, or back down and he didn't think taking her on was a good idea. He had no idea what her true power level was, but any fighter who was five thousand years old and not crippled by age was surely stronger than a seven year old. Not to mention she had been the one to detain him earlier.  
“Oh you know, just...going for a run,” he lied.  
“Going for a run?” she repeated with a smirk.  
“Going for a run,” Vegeta confirmed with a nod.  
“Trying to escape?” she offered.  
“Trying to escape?” he asked, trying to sound innocent.  
“Are you?” she questioned.  
“No!” he responded a little too quickly.  
“Good, cause that’d be bad,” she said, her eyes narrowing for a moment. The threatening air about her dissipated as she continued, “Cause you wouldn’t get anywhere but lost by trying to go through there. This place is like the worst maze in the world!” “Now, let’s take your run back to where we were,” she said, “Betcha I can beat you there.” Vegeta nodded, accepting the challenge. She set up a starting line. “Ok, we go on three,” she said, getting into position, “One...twothreeGO!” With that, they were off.


	9. Chapter 8

While Vegeta slept, the four gems met together at the warp pad for discussion. “I’ve never heard anything about a Lord Freiza,” Rose admitted, “but I know he’s most likely not related to Vegeta or another Saiyan for that matter.”   
“Why’s that?” Amethyst asked.  
“Because it’s not a Saiyan name,” Garnet explained, “Saiyan names have a particular pattern to them. I don’t know where it started, but it certainly makes it easier to figure out who is one and who isn't.”  
“The question is, why isn't he?” Pearl asked as she paced back and forth, “Saiyans have always been warlords and mercenaries for higher, but I doubt they’d ever let the crown prince join a military group or work under someone that wasn't Saiyan, let alone at such a tender age.”  
“Maybe they’re some kind of space pirates who kidnapped him,” Amethyst offered.  
Garnet shrugged, “It is possible. Especially because I think he was lying when we asked him whether his father had sent out a search party.”  
Rose raised an eyebrow. “So his father has sent one out? Why would someone lie about that? Wouldn't it make it easier for himself if he just said yes?” she asked.  
Garnet shook her head. “I don’t think that’s entirely the truth either,” she said, “Something’s not right here…we’re missing something important.”  
“We could try interrogating him,” Pearl suggested, “Amethyst managed to get something out of him just by striking up conversation with him, and if we hadn’t barged in, he might have given more.”  
“Yeah, but that was really basic information, and I really have no way to tell if he's lying or not,” Amethyst grumbled.  
“Amethyst’s right,” Rose said, “If he thinks the lie he’s telling us is keeping him safe, then he’s going to keep it up no matter what.” “He needs to feel safe around us before he’ll tell us anything,” she said, a thought coming to mind, “And I think I know just how to do that.”  
…  
“I’m sorry...but what did you say?” Vegeta asked, dumbfounded.  
“We’ll be taking you outside today” Rose repeated, “You need some fresh air and sunshine. Besides, we can’t just keep you kooped up in a small room all day.”  
Vegeta blinked slowly as he processed that sentence. “YES YOU CAN!” he shot back, flailing his arms, “THAT’S THE POINT OF IMPRISONMENT!”  
Rose ignored that comment. “Go ahead and start getting dressed, Garnet will come back for you in a little bit,” she said with a smile as she exited the room, “I Got some swim gear for you. You should find it in the blue bag.”   
Vegeta growled as she left. He knew he should be happy, but this woman continued to confuse him and he was getting fed up with it! Why was she doing this?! She knew he was a Saiyan and could just fly away, so why did she think this was a good idea? What kind of a general was she if she allowed all these risks? Even the dumbest soldier wouldn’t have allowed for this. Was it some kind of trick? Was she actually taking him outside or was she trying to coax him out so she could take him into some kind of torture chamber? The Saiyan prince shuddered at a memory of one of Frieza’s “interrogation” rooms. He was lucky enough to never have to set foot inside one, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t taken a peek inside, or heard the screams from down the hall.  
If they really did want to torture him, there wasn’t much he could do at this point. He couldn’t exactly break out of the room...or could he? An idea came to mind as a smirk formed on his face.  
A few minutes later Garnet stepped opened the door. As she stepped inside, she quickly noticed that she couldn’t see the young Saiyan. She stood firmly in front of the door and folded her arms. “Vegeta,” she said, “I know you’re here. You have five seconds to show yourself.”  
Vegeta held his breath as he watched her carefully. “Five…” she started, “four…three….two…” With that he took his chance and dropped down on her, leg extended. Just as his foot was about to connect with her head, her hand grabbed his leg. Vegeta’s eyes grew wide and he mentally cursed.  
She dropped him and stared down at him. Vegeta scrambled to his feet and into a fighting stance as fast as he could. He eyed her nervously and waited for her to strike back. “Nice try, but you’re going to have to do better than that,” she said in her usual monotone, “Now get dressed. The others are already outside.” With that she took a step back into the hall and slid the door shut again.  
Vegeta blinked in confusion. Why hadn’t she punished him? She didn't even lay a hand on him! Even if he was a comrade of hers, she should have at least landed a blow to his stomach for what he had done. And yet they had done nothing! They weren't even revoking his privilege to go outside. None of this made any sense!   
“You’ve got five minutes or I’ll come back in there and dress you myself,” Garnet warned from just outside the door. That snapped Vegeta out of his train of thought. He quickly got dressed before announcing that he was ready. Garnet entered the room again before taking him by the wrist and leading him into the hallway. He would have complained about being treated like a child, except for the fact that he honestly had no idea how to get out of this place.  
They eventually came to an unfamiliar door. As they got close to it, it slid open to reveal the cave leading into the temple with the beach just a little ways beyond. Vegeta glanced back at the door and knit his brows together for the umpteenth time that day. “How did we get out here?” he asked.  
“What do you mean?” Garnet responded.  
“We didn't pass through the cloud filled room,” he continued, “I distinctly remember passing through a cloud filled room when I came to this place.”  
“That’s because it’s Rose’s room,” she said, “We can’t enter that area without her.”  
Vegeta growled in agitation. “Yes but that doesn't explain-” he started before giving up. There was no point in trying to question things anymore.  
As they walked out onto the beach, they saw the three other gems waiting there for them. Rose and Amethyst looked excited, but Pearl looked like she wanted to be there about as much as Vegeta did. “Yo, ‘Geta,” Amethyst called, “Ready for some fun in the sun?”   
Vegeta glared at her. “Whatever…” he muttered. He stalked out onto the beach towards the others, garnet not far behind.   
“I think you’ll enjoy yourself a lot more than you think you will,” Rose said as they got closer, “It's a beautiful day after all. Birds are chirping. Flowers are blooming. On days like this, It’s hard to stay upset. Feel free to explore the area, just don’t go past the fence or too far out to sea.”  
Vegeta nodded and rolled his eyes at her. As he walked away, Rose leaned in closer to Garnet. “Keep a close eye on him,” she whispered, “Make sure he sticks to that rule and let me know what to expect if you see anything.” Garnet nodded before strolling away.  
…  
Vegeta did as he was commanded and didn’t go beyond the fence nor into the ocean. Something told him there would be actual consequences if he disobeyed this time. That didn’t mean he was going to stick around them. After eating a breakfast consisting of more strange earth fruit and fish, he wandered off saying he was going to look for debris from the ocean that had washed ashore. He had found himself a little nook in the rock wall and sat down on the white sand. He had no idea how long he had been sitting there, but it obviously wasn’t long enough that they felt they needed to go after him. As he watched the waves, he felt his agitation decreased a little bit. As much as he hated to admit it, Rose was right. It was fairly nice out. He couldn't remember the last time he got to just enjoy his surroundings. It was all so peaceful.  
However, peace wasn’t exactly what he needed right now. He had plenty of that inside. Right now he needed something to get rid of his pent up ki energy with. He hadn’t really been able to do any kind of training or outlet for that matter since he got here.  
Vegeta heard a squawk and turned to see a seagull pecking at the ground. He smirked slightly as he raised his hand. A ball of light appeared in his palm as he continued to gaze at the bird.  
“Ya know, when I said ‘fun in the sun’, this is not what I meant,” Amethyst said, causing the bird to fly away.  
The ball of ki dissipated as Vegeta turned to see the purple gem standing behind him with crossed arms. “What do you care?” he grumbled, “It’s just a bird.”  
“Me? Well to be honest, I couldn’t care less,” she continued, “But Rose would be pretty pissed if she found out what you were about to do. She’s not to fond of the idea of hunting for sport.”  
“She hasn’t really given me a reason to fear her, so that doesn’t worry me,” he stated looking towards where the bird had been moments before.  
“Trust me, you haven’t seen her when she’s angry,” Amethyst said, “She can be pretty scary if she needs to.”  
“Hmn…” he responded.  
There was a moment of silence between them before Amethyst broke it again. “Hey, wanna go do something fun that doesn't involve roasting things?” she asked.  
Vegeta tilted his at her. “What do you have in mind?” he asked. Amethyst smirked as she grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him away.  
….


	10. chapter 9

Amethyst dragged the young prince along the beach. The sandy shore seemed to go on forever. “Where are you taking me?” Vegeta asked again.  
“You’ll see. We’re almost there!” the purple gem replied.   
“You said that the last time,” Vegeta grumbled. The rounded on the edge of a rocky slope and reached another fenced off area. A cliff loomed over them and stretched out into the sea as they approached the chain-link fence. Amethyst let go of his hand and began walking towards the fence. She stuck her foot in one of the holes and began to climb up when she looked over her shoulder at him. “What are you waiting for?” she asked.  
“Didn’t your leader specifically say not to cross the fence?” he questioned, crossing his arms. Vegeta couldn’t believe he actually had to remind one of his captors about their own rules.  
“Oh right…” she sighed, jumping down. As she landed, the frown that had formed was quickly replaced by a grin as an idea came to mind. “I got it!” she said snapping her fingers. Suddenly, her form glowed a bright white light. It expanded and reshaped itself into a new, larger form. The light receded, and in the place of the humanoid was a large bird. “Tada!” she said, extending her wings.  
Vegeta looked at her in surprise. “I didn’t know gems could change form,” he said.  
“Yeah we’re pretty awesome like that,” she said, “But if you think this is cool, wait till you see what I have in store for you!” Before Vegeta could say or do anything more, the purple gem lunged at him and grabbed him by the shoulders with her talons.  
He began to struggle as she carried him off. “Hey!” What are you doing?!” he cried, twisting in her grip as she rose higher. When he couldn’t escape he lifted his hand up and began to charge a ki blast. A moment before he was about to blast her, she dropped him on top of the cliff. He picked himself up as she landed next to him.   
“There, we didn’t jump the fence,” she said, transforming back.   
Vegeta looked at her incredulously. “Who’s side are you on?!” he questioned.  
“The fun side!” she said.  
Vegeta sighed. “I’d hardly call standing on top of a cliff fun,” he said.  
“Good, cause we aren’t going to be up here for very long,” she responded. Before Vegeta had time to comprehend what she had said, she had hoisted him up over her shoulder and began racing towards the edge of the cliff, flinging them both off.   
Vegeta shouted and squirmed as they plummeted towards the water, but the gem wouldn’t let go. At the last second, he squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath. A large cascade of water shot into the air as they hit the surface. For a few brief moments they were both submerged in the salty ocean water. Amethyst released her grip on the young saiyan and he quickly swam upwards. He gasped as he broke the surface and paddled wildly to stay above it. As he regained control of himself, he switched to treading water. From behind him he could hear some snickering.  
“What’s so funny?!” he said turning to glare at the purple gem swimming next to him.  
“Your face. You should have seen it just before we hit the water!” she said still grinning.  
“You could have killed me!” he growled.  
“Dude, I’ve jumped off that cliff a hundred times. There’s no way you would have gotten hurt,” she brushed him off, “Besides, I know you enjoyed it.”  
Vegeta’s eyes widened in realization. As furious as he was with her, he had still gotten quite a rush out of that little escapade. “Oh...Shut up,” he growled, splashing her. The wave he created was just strong enough to push Amethyst under. Vegeta grinned at her look of surprise just before the wave collapsed on her.  
When she came back up she had a smirk on her face. “Oh, you’re gonna regret that,” she said. With that she elongated her arm and sent a wave his way that pushed him back a couple meters. Vegeta spat out seawater while glaring at her before returning her smirk. He sent a wave of energy through the water that flung her into the air before hitting the water again.  
Vegeta laughed as she broke the surface and coughed up a fish. She narrowed her eyes at him. “So that’s how you want to play it? Fine then!” she said. She grinned wickedly before disappearing below the surface of the ocean. Vegeta stopped laughing as he looked around for her. His eyes scanned just below the surface for any movement. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light from the depths. An off colored great white shark shot out of the water to about twenty feet in the air. “SHARK ATTACK!” it screamed as it hit the water again, resulting in gallons of water to be dumped onto the prince.  
Amethyst cackled as Vegeta grimaced at her, his hair now limp and hanging in his face from the weight of the water. A dark look came to his face as he started chuckling. he raised one hand to be half way above water level. A small ball of ki formed in his hand. Amethyst stopped her hysterical laugher as a look of surprise replaced it. “Oh crap! Oh crap!” she half laughed half panicked as she tried to swim away.   
Vegeta released the ball of energy and it zoomed through the brine after her. It exploded as it got close to her, sending her flying through the air and skipping over the water three times before plunging into the sea. “Had enough?” he asked grinning haughtily as she swam back over to him.  
“Yeah, yeah,” she huffed yet still smiled, “You win kiddo. Wanna jump off the cliff again?”   
A look of determination crossed his face. “Sure, but only if we race to see who can climb up it faster this time!” he agreed.  
They both swam back to the shore and ran to the side of the cliff. Vegeta jumped up about ten feet from the base to grip the rock wall. Amethyst wasn’t too far behind him. As he began to reach upwards, he heard someone clear their throat. The two turned to see Rose and Garnet standing behind them, arms crossed. The grin that had once sat on Vegeta’s lips was now replaced by surprise as he saw that Rose bore a very serious and disappointed expression.  
“Both of you, get down from there now,” she demanded. Her voice was not harsh, but it was stern enough to be clear that she meant business.  
Without realising, the prince obeyed. Vegeta and Amethyst both jumped down from the cliff face. He glanced over to the purple gem to see her looking down at the ground like a child that had gotten in trouble. Vegeta suddenly felt a little nervous as he saw the usually confident gem in such a meek state.  
“Vegeta, I am very disappointed in you. I gave you a very simple rule not to cross the boundaries set up for you, and yet I find you dragging Amethyst along in breaking that very rule!” She scolded, “You had complete freedom to do whatever else you wanted, yet you chose to betray my trust! I have been very lenient and forgiving thus far, but I’m afraid I have no choice but to punish you.” Vegeta had mixed emotions as she spoke to him. She didn’t sound threatening but he still felt very nervous.  
“Actually Rose,” Amethyst spoke up, “I was the one that convinced Vegeta to break your rule. I wanted to take him diving off the cliff.”  
Rose’s expression softened but she still looked disappointed. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” she sighed, voice more gentle, “Very well. Vegeta, you’re off the hook, but you should head back inside for now. It's getting close to dinner time for you anways.”  
Vegeta hesitated slightly before grumbling to himself and walking passed Rose. Garnet followed after him.   
Amethyst started after him when Rose stopped her. “Amethyst,” she said, “I need to talk to you.”  
The smaller quartz rolled her eyes. “I know, I know,” she groaned, “I shouldn’t have encouraged him to break the rules. But honestly, the kid needs some excitement. He’s got a lot of cooped up energy he needs to get out and just letting him run around isn’t going to cut it.”  
“I figured as much,” Rose sighed, “I assume that's what the explosive noise we heard earlier was about.” Amethyst nodded and scratched the back of her head with an apologetic shrug. “I hoped we could have gotten him to adapt without this problem,” she muttered, “I guess that was too good to be true.”  
“Well maybe there’s a way to work around it,” Amethyst suggested, “If it's just not being active enough, there’s got to be a cure. Maybe Pearl could set him up to face off against one of her holo things.”  
“Maybe…” Rose thought. She wasn’t too fond of that idea to be honest. She never fully trusted those things. Amethyst did have a point though. The best way to deal with this extensive energy would most likely be with some sort of combat practice. He was a saiyan after all. Then a thought came to mind. She might have something tucked away he could use. maybe not in the temple, but somewhere…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. January has been crazy for me. Still, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	11. Chapter 10

“You can’t be serious Rose!” Pearl exclaimed as they entered the secret cave. Ripples formed in the standing water as they passed through it. Very few had ever set foot in this place. “You’re not actually thinking about letting him get stronger, are you?!”she pleaded.  
“He needs a way of getting rid of pent up energy,” she explained as she stepped up to the podium, “Normal human mesures won’t be of use and we can’t just let him sit around all day. He’ll go insane!” She placed her hand on the pink tinted podium and the room lit up. “besides, even if he does get stronger, there’s no way he’ll be able to defeat our fusions on his own.”  
“Now what to choose…” Several compartments containing different weapons, sets of armor, and even a giant penny opened up and closed again.   
“What about the Tri-fire?” Pearl offered, “We used that before for soldiers during the war.”  
“No, that’s too dangerous. It may be useful for training against different elemental attacks but if that got loose it could destroy a city,” Rose argued. “Wait, I think I’ve got it!” she announced, snapping her fingers. A new compartment opened up to reveal a silvery humanoid form. “Perfect! He’s going to love this,” Rose grinned, clasping her hands together.  
….  
“DODGE!” Vegeta’s eyes shot open as a body fell on him from above again. He yelped as the person hit him but he immediately kicked the person off of him and Amethyst hit the wall. “Wow, pretty late reaction time. You’re gonna need to work on that,” she teased, dusting herself off.  
“I was ASLEEP!” he snapped, throwing his pillow at her, “What the hell did you expect?!”  
“Doesn’t stop Garnet,” Amethyst noted with a shrug.   
Vegeta rolled his eyes at the purple gem, irritated more than angry. “Hey, cheer up! You’ll get a chance to work on that today. Rose has something really cool prepared for you at the Sky Arena,” Amethyst commented.  
Vegeta perked up at that. “What does she have planned?” he questioned.  
Amethyst just walked over to the door and opened it. “See for yourself!” she said, letting him through. Amethyst lead him out of the temple and to the warp pad where the others were waiting for him. Rose had a wide smile on her face as she greeted him.  
“Good morning Vegeta. Sleep well?” she asked.  
“I did until SOMEONE decided to tackle me awake!” he said glaring at Amethyst.  
Rose gave Amethyst a scolding look. “Sorry about that,” she responded, “had I known she was going to do that, I would have sent Pearl in her place.”  
Eyeing Pearl who was looking at him with suspicion, Vegeta’s brow furrowed. “For some reason I don’t think that would have made things any better…” he muttered to himself.  
“Rude awakenings aside, I think you’re really going to enjoy today,” Rose commented stepping up onto the warp pad, “Now let’s head out.”   
Vegeta stepped up on to the sleek surface along with the other gems. A chime sounded as the pad began to glow. A bright light surrounded them. As it did, gravity seemed to fade away. Vegeta was caught off guard by this, for the last time he had traveled by this warp system he had been trapped inside a bubble. His arms flailed slightly as he tried to keep from turning upside down. The gems chuckled slightly at this. “Shut up!” Vegeta hissed as he attempted to regain balance. When they arrived at their destination, he managed to land on his feet.   
they were surrounded by stone walls and pillars. he could see a light streaming in from an exit and blue sky beyond that, but nothing else. “So where did you decided to take me?” he asked as he walked towards the sunlit doorway. Once he got close enough, he noticed a huge dropoff into a layer of clouds below. “Obviously somewhere where it would be a bad idea to try and escape from…” he muttered as he backed away from it.  
“This is the Sky Arena,” Rose explained with a smile as she lead him to a staircase, “It was originally built for gems to settle disputes on.”  
“You didn’t bring me here to fight you, did you?” Vegeta asked, half apprehensive and half excited at the idea. He didn’t like not knowing how powerful Rose actually was if he was to face her. For all he knew she could be stronger than Zarbon, and he’d gotten enough beatings from that seafoam bastard to last him a life time. At the same time, as a saiyan he couldn’t help but get excited at such a challenge.  
“No, but I have something that I think you’ll find just as exciting,” Rose replied with a grin as she stepped up onto the platform. Vegeta followed soon after, with the others right behind him. The arena was huge, but seemed to be in disrepair. The statues and seating of the rena seemed to be crumbling. One of the statues attached to a pillar was entirely gone. Vegeta followed rose into the middle of the stadium while the others moved to the stands. Rose stopped in front of what seemed to be a metal statue. It had no face and seemed to be completely androgynous. “I brought this up for you to train with,” she explained excitement clear in her voice.  
Vegeta looked at it in confusion. “...Is this some kind of joke? How can I train with a statue?” he asked.  
“Go ahead and attack it and see for yourself,” she answered cryptically, a mischievous grin playing on her face.  
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her before slowly taking a fighting stance. He waited for a few moments to see if the statue would do anything, but it didn't move. He then lunged at it, extending his leg out to knock it down. CLANG! Vegeta’s eyes widened in surprise for at the last second, the metal statue move its arm to block his attack.Vegeta stood there for a second in shock. The metal statue did not move. With that, Vegeta attempted to attack again, but once again the statue swiftly blocked him.  
“This is the mirror body,” Rose explained, “It was used to train gems during the war. It pays attention to your movements and follows them. Once it finishes calculating you strength and speed, it can mimic your style, allowing for a person to be able to spar someone at the same level as them.”  
“That’s incredible!” Vegeta praised, “Why haven’t I seen others use these?”  
“Well they are very hard to create, and require the same material used to make gems which is a secret I know no member of the gem race would let out,” she explained, “You’re free to use this whenever you need to. Just let one of us know. You can activate or deactivate it by saying its name and then giving the command.”  
Vegeta nodded before continuing his attack. However, no matter how many quick jabs, punches, or kicks he delivered, the mirror body managed to block each one. Vegeta dropped down and attempted a sweep kick, but the mirror body flipped out of the way. When it landed, a slight ping could be heard from the magical object. The mirror body took a fighting stance as it's form suddenly shifted to create a silhouette of Vegeta. He blinked in surprise but quickly took up his own stance. A grin formed on his face as his doppelgänger charged at him. Rose smiled as the young Saiyan lept into action.  
Meanwhile the other gems help equal interest in the sparring session from the stands. “Woooo! Go Vegeta!” Amethyst cheered as she snacked on some popcorn. Garnet leaned back in her seat, watching the situation coolly, but clearly enjoying it all the same. The only one not enjoying themselves was Pearl.  
Pearl’s brow furrowed in worry. “Why are you so happy about this? You do realise this is only making him stronger, right?” Pearl asked quietly.  
“So? He’s still not anywhere near Garnet’s level,” Amethyst said with a shrug, “‘Sides, it's better than him blowing holes in the temple instead.”  
“But what if he reaches that level? Saiyans are capable of tremendous growth in a short amount of time,” she argued, “Many are even capable of destroying planets! The more we let him train, the closer he is to threatening all life on Earth as we know it!”  
“Pearl, you’re over reacting,” Garnet said calmly, not taking her eyes off the fight.  
“I am not, and you know it!” Pearl snapped, still trying to keep her voice low, “I know at least Saphire’s seen what they’re like. Saiyans literally live for fighting. Sooner or later, this little twerp is going to get sick of fighting his own shadow like this and decide the world is going to be his new punching bag!”  
Garnet sighed. “Ok Pearl, you’re right,” Garnet responded straightening up, “there is a good chance that Vegeta could become a serious threat to this world. He could even be it's downfall one day.” She paused before finally turning to look at Pearl, “But I see an equally good chance he might become one of the Earth’s greatest defenders.”  
Pearl arched an eyebrow. “You truly see that in his future?” she genuinely questioned.  
“Among other things…” Garnet explained.  
“Like what?” Amethyst asked.  
“Honestly?” Garnet said with a smirk, “A very loud and angry scientist.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Just so you know. The Tri-Fire is supposed to be that thing that attacked steven and connie in Lion 2. Well I hope you guys liked the chapter. Let me know what you think! Feel free to give any suggestions too. :)


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